CHELAN — Tuscan Village, a proposed Italian-style village surrounded by vineyards and farmland above Lake Chelan’s south shore, cleared another major hurdle Monday.

The Chelan County Hearing Examiner approved plans for the 274-acre development with more than 950 residential units. Project proponents said there were no surprises in the examiner’s 18-page decision.

The approval means Tuscan Village can move forward with more detailed development permits before the actual phased-in development is built.

“We’re just very pleased. We think it’s a win-win for the environment and for the economy,” said Bob Jankelson, whose Tsillan Cellars Vineyards and Winery is part of the proposed development.

It’s been a little more than two years since Jankelson and four neighboring property owners announced a plan that would keep half of their combined land in agriculture, while developing the rest with a mix of residential units made up of clustered villas, multi-family homes, condominiums or hotels, a retail center and a health spa.

The property is south of Highway 97A, between Knapp Coulee Road and west of Chelan’s Lakeside Park.

Jankelson said this approval is akin to rounding second base in the long road to actual development.

But the project’s attorney Sandy Mackie said, “Actually, they’re much farther than that. They’re around third base and headed for home.”

Still, it’s too soon to say when any construction might begin, he said.

The next step is to sit down with county officials and work out a development agreement, which will include more detailed plans of how it will be phased in and what its water and sewer systems will look like, he said.

The hearing examiner’s decision gives the go-ahead to determine the best water and sewer system as development plans are made.

The city of Chelan had wanted the development to hook into its water and sewer systems, but that proposal was costly, and — developers say — not as friendly to the environment.

City officials raised concerns with the hearing examiner about water quality in Lake Chelan if sewage is treated on-site.

“The city expressed some concerns about the quality of the lake, and those are absolutely concerns we share,” Mackie said.

He said more water quality studies are being required.

Mackie said it will take some time to design a water and sewer treatment plan, and proponents are working to come up with an on-site system that will reuse and recycle much of its water.

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com